Thursday, May 7, 2020

3 things job seekers need to know about hiring technology (and 3 ways to make it work for you)

By Ron Mitchell

Searching
for a job in the age of AI résumé reviewers, online assessments, and
automatic “no” piles is excruciating. And we haven’t even scratched the
surface of anxiety around the pandemic.

Technology has drastically
changed the job search process, even in just the last five years, and
job seekers now find themselves questioning how to adapt to a
tech-driven recruiting environment. What makes adapting so hard? In
large part, it’s because so much of what happens, happens behind closed
doors. We know that AI is helping with hiring decisions, but what does
that actually mean, and how does it change your job search?

1. Companies are building profiles on you

You
probably know about software that can scan your résumé for keywords.
But when recruiters are considering you for a job, they aren’t just
looking at your résumé. They’re now relying on tools that build full
profiles on job seekers just by scraping publicly available information
such as social profiles, old blogs, awards, academic histories, old
résumés on LinkedIn, etc. These tools allow employers to build a profile
about you without ever meeting you, and that profile could be
drastically different than the one you’re hoping to convey with your
résumé. The kicker? Employers believe that those sources can be even
more informative about who you are and what you do than an actual
conversation.

2. Skill assessments are digging deeper

Traditional
strength and personality assessments aren’t going anywhere, but they
are becoming more sophisticated. To better understand whether or not a
candidate is the right fit, employers are using assessments with more
intelligent algorithms that can determine how you’ll perform in a
specific job environment. Some address cultural fit, and some are built
to measure technical skills.

3. Employers want you to show, not tell

Chances
are, you’re familiar with the “scenario” type of questions in an
interview that asks how you would react in certain situations. Pretty
soon, you may have to show, not just describe, how you’ll handle
on-the-job-scenarios. Companies that have substantial resources and that
are hiring en masse are taking it a step further by using VR to build
workplace scenarios. This technology is helping employers get a more
concrete picture of how you’ll react to customers, the fast pace,
technology requirements, etc.

The missing human connection

What
place does human interaction have in recruiting? With AI screenings and
other tech-based decision making, the human connection is becoming
harder to establish, and companies are making judgments without ever
having met the candidates.

This concern doesn’t stop
after the hiring process is done. Companies everywhere are adapting to
accommodate remote work, meaning technology is replacing face time in
the office too. Slack, videoconferencing, and email help close the human
connection gap, but employees must create new intentional habits when
using these tools to support collaboration. Combine these changes with
the rise of the gig economy—another game changer in the workplace—and
workplace culture becomes even more fluid. With these new elements,
employers, employees, and job seekers must actively work to establish a
human connection.